Vermont Town Meeting Day ballots vary from bond votes to school budgets

There were bond issues, municipal budgets and local elections for voters to decide Tuesday during Vermont Town Meeting Day. The major issue across the state was school budgets — and a larger number than usual were defeated.

A predicted property tax increase between 18 and 20 percent resulted in school budgets being the most controversial item for voters.

The Vermont School Boards Association and the Vermont Superintendents Association report that 31 percent of school district budgets were defeated. School Boards Association Executive Director Sue Ceglowski says several factors led to voter concerns, including actions in the state legislature.

“There was a law that passed a few years ago, Act 127, which changed the weights that are applied to pupils in Vermont’s funding system and as part of the transition into those new weights, which is happening during this upcoming fiscal year, the legislature included a 5 percent cap for districts,” explained Ceglowski. “And that 5 percent cap was an issue that caused increased spending. So in the past few weeks the legislature removed that 5 percent cap.”

Eight school districts postponed budget votes and another 14 normally hold votes at a later date.

While school budgets faced challenges, Middlebury College Professor of Political Science Bert Johnson says municipal bond votes fared better.

“It seems that by and large the bond issues are succeeding at higher rates than the school budgets,” observed Johnson. “So we had approvals of bonds in Winooski to help build this new bridge, or repair the bridge. In St. Albans there’s the downtown development bond that went through. There are a few, like a capital improvements proposal in Richmond, that failed. But those are fewer and farther between than those school budget failures.”

Burlington voters elected the city’s first woman mayor. In Montpelier voters reelected incumbent Jack McCullough, who had faced two challengers, to a two-year term. Voters in the state’s capital city also approved a charter change to protect residential tenants through just cause evictions. Johnson says the measure will need further approval.

“That’s a proposal that makes it a more friendly climate for renters, gives them extra rights vis-s-vis landlords,” said Johnson. “That’s going to have to go to the state legislature and ultimately the governor before it can be put into law even though it was passed in Montpelier. Charter changes have to go through the state.”

A few towns hold in-person meetings rather than relying on paper ballots. John McClaughry has moderated Kirby’s meeting for 58 years.

“We had a very mild town meeting,” reported McClaughry. “The budget was debated not more than five minutes, that is the municipal budget. There was no contested election and the only real discussion had to do with education finance with our two legislators about what are we going to do about spending on education.”

Vermont’s presidential primary was also held on Town Meeting Day. In the Republican race, Nikki Haley beat Donald Trump 49 to 45 percent. Incumbent Joe Biden easily outpaced five challengers with 83 percent of the Democratic vote.